Wednesday's Sports In Brief

DORAL, Fla. (AP) — Rory McIlroy offered another apology, a straightforward explanation and a pledge Wednesday that he will never again quit in middle of a round.

McIlroy faced the media for the first time since he abruptly walked off the golf course in the second round of the Honda Classic, telling reporters that his head was not in the right place and then issuing a statement that his sore wisdom tooth made it difficult to concentrate.

Turns out the wisdom tooth wasn't the whole truth, and the world's No. 1 player said, "It will never happen again."

DORAL, Fla. (AP) — Tim Clark stated his case against the proposed ban on anchored strokes, saying he was frustrated by the lack of evidence from golf's governing bodies that using a long putter provides an advantage.

Clark has used a long putter he anchors to his chest since he was in college. He became a key figure in the debate for his elegant speech at a PGA Tour meeting that helped shape the opinion of several players. A month later, commissioner Tim Finchem said the PGA Tour was not in favor of the proposed rule.

PRO FOOTBALL

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says the league will continue to do "everything we can" to make football safer.

Goodell has talked a lot recently about player safety and he discussed it again during a lecture and question-and-answer session at the department of exercise and sport science at the University of North Carolina.

He's calling for "a culture of safety for every sport" and welcomes the national conversation about player safety and the growing issue of concussions.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Six-time Pro Bowl kicker David Akers was released by the San Francisco 49ers after two seasons filled with record-breaking highs and incredible lows.

Akers appeared in all 32 regular-season games and five playoff contests the past two seasons. He connected on 73 of 94 field goal attempts and all 78 extra points.

In 2011, Akers set NFL records with 44 field goals made and 52 attempted, but Akers made just 29 of 44 attempts last season, his lowest percentage since 1999.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs made another move in their roster overhaul under new leadership, releasing right tackle Eric Winston after only one season.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Prosecutors told a federal judge that the younger brother of former NFL player Jason Fabini is a member of a large, profitable drug conspiracy ring that moved thousands of pounds of marijuana and millions of dollars in cash with supply chains in California and Arizona.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Gellar told Magistrate Judge Roger Cosbey during a detention hearing Tuesday in Indiana that Michael Fabini and 33-year-old Marshall Butler maintained a drug stash house in Fort Wayne where guns and more than $1 million in cash were found alongside bales of marijuana. He said in a search of Fabini's mother's home, agents found a Chevrolet Impala owned by Michael Fabini with 35 pounds of marijuana in its trunk. At another house, they found an AR-15-type rifle and a Mossburg 500 shotgun registered to Fabini, Gellar said.

Prosecutors said drug ledgers found indicated the operation handled at least 10,000 pounds of marijuana with a value of at least $5 million.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The case against the Washington Redskins nickname begins again Thursday.

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board will hear a petition brought by a group of Native Americans who say the Redskins should lose their federal trademark protection. They cite a law that prohibits registered names that are disparaging, scandalous, contemptuous or disreputable.

The board stripped the Redskins of the trademark in 1999, but the ruling was overturned in large part on a technicality. The same technicality doesn't apply to the new group of plaintiffs.

BASEBALL

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) —Mark Teixeira is going to be out at least until early May with a strained right wrist tendon, the latest major injury setback for the New York Yankees.

The first baseman was hurt swinging a bat Tuesday in an indoor cage during pregame warm-ups with the U.S. WBC team. Initially, Teixeira was expected to be out eight to 10 days, but he was examined by Yankees doctors in New York on Wednesday and a diagnosis of eight to 10 weeks was given.

General manager Cashman said Teixeira will rest for four weeks before beginning rehabilitation.

It's the second major injury for the Yankees during spring training this year. Outfielder Curtis Granderson broke his right forearm when he was hit by a pitch Feb. 24. He will be sidelined until early May.

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Pitcher Derek Lowe and the Texas Rangers have reached agreement on a minor league deal.

The Rangers announced the deal Wednesday. The 39-year-old righty is expected to report to spring training on Friday.

NCAA

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — One of the investigators who worked on the NCAA's inquiry of Miami athletics wrote a letter on behalf of former booster and convicted felon Nevin Shapiro just days before he was sentenced two years ago.

In the same letter, dated June 3, 2011, Ameen Najjar even suggested that the NCAA could eventually hire Shapiro.

Najjar, who is no longer with the NCAA, told U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton that college sports' governing body could have utilized Shapiro "in the future as a consultant and/or speaker to educate our membership."

Najjar also said that Shapiro assisted the NCAA with investigations involving a number of schools. Najjar did not specify the schools — not even Miami, where Shapiro is the central figure in the scandal that has dogged the Hurricanes' athletic department for at least two years.

PRO HOCKEY

NEW YORK (AP) — Doctors are optimistic that New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal will recover fully after being struck in the eye by a deflected puck.

Staal was injured Tuesday night in the third period of New York's 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. The 26-year-old defenseman will be sidelined indefinitely, but was already showing improvement on Wednesday, the Rangers said in a statement.

Staal's specific injury hasn't been disclosed.

PRO BASKETBALL

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — New York All-Star Carmelo Anthony sat out the Knicks' game at Detroit after injuring his right knee earlier in the week.

Anthony stumbled near midcourt Monday night against Cleveland after catching a pass and fell awkwardly to the floor. He got up, and appearing more embarrassed than hurt, immediately headed to the locker room with a slight limp. He did not return.

TENNIS

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Svetlana Kuznetsova took another step forward in her comeback from a right knee injury, beating Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-1, in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

SOCCER

Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain protected their leads from the first legs to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Juventus avoided any slip-ups against Celtic, finishing off the Scottish team with a 2-0 win to advance 5-0 on aggregate. PSG faced a tougher challenge against Valencia, but Ezequiel Lavezzi equalized in the second half for a 1-1 tie that was enough to put the French team into the quarterfinals for the first time since 1995. PSG had won the away leg of their round-of-16 match 2-1.

FARO, Portugal (AP) — Abby Wambach scored her 154th career goal, leaving her four shy of tying Mia Hamm's record, and the U.S. women opened the Algarve Cup with a 3-0 victory over Iceland.

CYCLING

BRIOUDE, France (AP) — American Andrew Talansky held off six riders in a sprint finish to win the third stage of the Paris-Nice race and take the race leader's yellow jersey.

DONORATICO, Italy (AP) — Mark Cavendish took the early lead of the Tirreno-Adriatico after his Omega Pharma-QuickStep won the team time trial on a rainy opening day.